2025 Sandshoes Boardrider’s Annual Presentation

Monday 24th November - 2025

My lifelong friend Graham ‘Reno’ Gillespie and I were invited to present the inaugural Graham ‘Sid’ Cassidy Award at the 2025 Sandshoes Boardrider’s Annual Presentation this past weekend.

The newly created Award was going to be bestowed on the Outstanding Junior of the Year. And was created to stand as a perpetual reminder and an enduring tribute to Sandshoes Boardriders co-founding forefather, Sid Cassidy.

Standing proudly with is his Sid Cassidy 2025 Young Person of the Year trophy
is Nate Larkin. Flanked by Sandshoes old guard presenters,
Graham 'Reno' Gillespie on the left and Steve Core on the right.
Photo: Steve Cryer

The function was held at the South Cronulla Bowling Club, ironically, like the Sandshoes Reef break itself, it is a museum unto itself. The Club is located on the very tip of the South Cronulla peninsula. Making the Bowling Club the southernmost point of metropolitan coastal Sydney where you can purchase a legal beverage.

Casting our minds back even further Reno and I did reminisce that we actually attended one of Sid’s birthday soirees here in the early ‘70s. There were plenty of surf stars in attendance for that one including former World Champion, the Animal himself, Nat Young.

Through his blue ribbon Pro contest administration skills, Sid worked closely with every top surfer in the world. He had plenty of speed dial connections with surfing's 'A' list elite.

Winner of the 2025 Sandshoes Boardrider's Open Division, Luke Wedesweiler.
Photo: Steve Core

I have to say that Reno and I were so impressed with the Sandshoes Boardriders end of year presentation. What knocked us for a loop was the splendid sense of community and pride that this group has for one another and their environment. They are so supportive of each other it is just beautiful to see.

And I thought to myself, this is exactly the vision that Sid Cassidy had for the Boardriding fraternity that he helped found back in the ‘70s. If he would have been present on this day he would have been super proud of what he saw. Believe me.

Reno and I did get to tell a few old tales of our early days with Sid, starting somewhere back in the mid-sixties.

Sid ended up living at the very end of Orient Avenue, right on the Esplanade that overlooked his most cherished Sandshoes reef break. Next door but one on Orient Avenue was Ross Longbottom and his young family, including (then) toddlers Daz Longbottom and Dylan Longbottom.

In fact Reno is Dylan Longbottom’s godfather.

Winner of the 2025 Sandshoes Boardrider's Super Grom division - Harvey Richards.
Photo: Steve Core

Between all our thousands of surfs out at Sandshoes, there were endless numbers of barbecues, backyard cricket innings, touch footy games, table tennis matches. Orient Avenue became the hub of our surfing social lives.

The winner of the first ever Graham ‘Sid’ Cassidy Sandshoes Junior Club Person of the Year went to Nate Larkin. A tall unassuming excellent surfer. And guess where Nate lives? Yep, you got it - how ironic… right on Orient Avenue. Who would have ever thought you could join the dots of the Sandshoes long line of surfing pedigree together like that?

I'll tell you why it works... it works because the South Cronulla peninsular is a true cul de sac Surfing community, it's surrounded by salt water on all three sides.

And this 150-strong Sandshoes Club, is chock full of juniors, who are nurtured by a sturdy administration of almost spiritual leaders and supported by young, working-class, healthy families who all thrive on their enthusiasm of hardy, tight community values of like mindedness and sense of purpose.

Sid would be so proud.

Sandshoes Boardriders new Award in honour of Sid Cassidy

Monday 10th November - 2025

As voted lifetime members of Sandshoes Boardriders Club, my life-long friend Graham ‘Reno’ Gillespie and myself (Steve Core) look forward to attending the 2025 Annual Presentation on Sunday 23rd November at South Cronulla Bowling Club.

We’ve been asked to present the Graham ‘Sid’ Cassidy Award to the Sandshoes Junior Club person of the Year. What an honour it is for us to do this and represent our old mate, Sid Cassidy.

(Above) Here’s a classic group photo of the three of us, Reno, Sid and myself at the 1983 Sandshoes Annual Presentation at the Cronulla Workers Club in The Alley at North Cronulla.

In recent days, Reno and I had a visit with Sid and as most of you know, Sid is in permanent medical care. We’ll be pleased to share the outcome of our visit with Sid.

And a photo (above) with the three of us snapped just a week or so ago. The photos were taken 42-years apart.

Peter Glasson - Colour of Thought

Friday 7th November - 2025

Thumbing back through the pages of Cronulla's surfboard history, we can't ever forget Peter 'Glasso' Glasson's classic 'Colour of Thought' Surfboard brand from the 1970s.

Peter was up there in the ranks of the better surfers to come out of Cronulla and was a bold & skilled big wave charger. Additionally, he was one of our best surfboard shapers and had a legion of loyal followers. He had immersed himself in his explicit taste for bigger wave performance mini-guns.

As a mature shaper, his precision shapes by hand were his real trademark. His influence was clearly bigger wave performance.

These great images of a lovingly restored Peter Glasson 'Colour of Thought' surfboard popped up on a Western Australia-based Facebook page today. It's a perfect example of '70s realism in surfboard design, structure and strong tonal contrast in its presentation. A working class surfboard to say the least.

Shire surfboard collector Larry Cohen, describes it as "a semi-gun round tail. A real down the line speed machine with a lean and hungry nose, but it’s got decent area through the rear of the board for power surfing in big OZ swells. Thickness under the nose and high volume. Flat bottom, hard down rails, this board was shaped for an experienced surfer. Glasso should add his technical details".

'Glasso' like me, was a Kogarah boy and not only did we live a few streets apart we were born only two days apart in the same year.

Choosing not to set up in the standard industrial enclaves of nearby Taren Point, Glasso started his 'Color of Thought' Surfboard label in an ex-Ferry Keeper's cottage on the verge of the super busy Princes Highway, tucked in against the banks of the Georges River, right at the entrance to the Tom Uglys bridge.

The ferry (or punt) used to ply across the Georges River before the steel truss bridge was completed in 1929. A hand-operated punt service from Tom Ugly's Point to Horse Rock Point connected the St George area to the Sutherland Shire at Sylvania.

The funky surf-related location diffused its unusual and remote position. That area is technically in the suburb of Sylvania, which is in the Sutherland Shire.
That original building is now long gone but it was the exact same spot where the current Pronto Restaurant now stands. Given the high volume of traffic on the Princes Highway these days it would be a difficult retail location to get pain-free customer access to in daylight hours.

These days Peter has long retired the very top end of the NSW coast, just below the Queensland border and he is a master fly fisherman often chasing the feisty 'Saratoga', a fresh water fish known for their fighting ability. Saratoga are not considered a good eating fish because of their fine bones, so it's mostly catch and release.

This red bad boy will be nicely persevered for a few more decades and generations of surfers to come, thanks to Wayne Winchester at the Surf Gallery in southern WA for the photos and the magnificent restoration work.

Or you can call in to check out the Surf Gallery at 50750 South Coast Hwy, Youngs Siding, WA. (located between Albany and Denmark) on the Great Australian Bight.

2025 Surfing Hall of Fame Awards

Wednesday 6th November - 2025

Lunch last friday at 'Next Door' in the North Cronulla Alley, with Cronulla & Sandshoes legend (left) Graham 'Reno' Gillespie, me in the middle, and Luke Madden of Surfing Australia on the right.

We were in deep discussion with Luke and Surfing Australia about their surfing 2025 Hall of Fame Awards presentation night on December 6th at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

Finally, our life-long friend, Cronulla-based, Graham 'Sid' Cassidy will be honoured in front of the surfing world's gathered elite. Sid will be inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame with a lifetime Achievement Award for his services rendered to Surfing.

What a monumental honour for Sid.

Sandshoes legend (left) Graham 'Reno' Gillespie, me in the middle, and Luke Madden of Surfing Australia on the right.

As most of you are now aware, our one time powerhouse of surfing administration, 'Sid', is now in full-time, live-in, dementia care. He will be unable travel or to make to the gala event in his honour.

On the big night, not only will we be representing Sandshoes Boardriders and all of the surf fraternity in Cronulla and the Sutherland Shire, but the wider, mainstream pro surfing community that Sid worked so tirelessly for and held so special in his heart.

Reno and myself will be in attendance with extreme pride and honour and we will be accepting the award on the night, December 6th, 2025 on behalf of our old mate Sid.